Interview: Don Stephenson of BACK TO THE FUTURE at Robinson Center

Great Scott! Ok, there are definitely some great perks to this job of mine. Not only am I super excited that Back to the Future: The Musical is coming to Robinson Center in Little Rock March 13 through 16, but my friends at Celebrity Attractions actually let me talk to the ultra-talented Don Stephenson, who is bringing the role of Doc Brown to life! Getting to chat with him about stepping into such an iconic character was an absolute blast—this show is going to be something truly special, and I can't wait!

First, let me introduce you to the man who will be channeling our beloved hero. Don Stephenson is no stranger to the stage and screen. Here are his credits to prove it:

Broadway: Trouble in Mind, The Producers, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Dracula, Private Lives, Titanic, Parade, By Jeeves, Rock of Ages, Wonderful Town. Encores: Me and My Girl, The Bandwagon, Pardon My English. Off-Broadway: Death Takes A Holiday, Take Me Along, Chess, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Television/Film: “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Law & Order,” “Blacklist,” “The Americans,” “Deception,” “Happy,” “Good Wife,” “30 Rock,” “Glee,” “Ugly Betty,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “L&O: SVU,” “Turn: Washington’s Spies.” 

Impressed yet? I am. For more information, check out his website here.

BWW: So we're excited you're coming to Little Rock with Back to the Future, the musical. 

Don Stephenson: Back to the Future the musical is coming.  

BWW: Yay!  

Don Stephenson: Are you a Back to the Future fan?  

BWW: Yes Sir, I am. 

Don Stephenson: Who isn’t? Isn’t everyone? And if they aren't, what's wrong with them? 

BWW: Exactly. Exactly. I've seen it a million times.  

DS: Me too.  

BWW: Actually, I love all three. I mean, I know there's the original, but I like two and three as well.  

DS: Yeah, they are all really interesting and really well done, and, I don't know, I was thinking like -- you could argue this is the greatest time travel story ever devised, ever done, you know. I mean, there's lots of good ones, but you could say this is the very best one, and I was wondering, like... why? How and why is it that it's stuck around all these years, 40 years, you know, and I think the reason is that it has a heart to it. It sort of has a little bit of everything-- it's got sci-fi, it's got action, it's sort of like a buddy movie, it's got a little romance. But, the thing I think that keeps people coming back to it all these years, the reason that you and I are talking today is because it's got heart inside of it. There's the kernel of heart, and I think that that's what Bob [Gale-Book, Co-Creator, Producer] brought to it, because it's the love between Marty and Doc and their friendship, and it's the way that Marty rediscovers his parents. He rediscovers his dad in a new way is the reason that I think people keep coming back to it all of these years. To think that the kernel of this idea came from Bob as he was looking through his dad's yearbook, and he sees the picture of his dad, and he's like, ‘oh, I wonder what he was like back then.’ I mean, we all wonder, but no one ever gets to know what their parents were like, you know, back when they were at that age, except Marty gets to find out, and that's what's so cool about it.  

BWW: Right... 

DS: When the movie came out, I was young, and I was in the Marty position – I understood Marty going through this whole adventure and wondering what's gonna happen. But, as I've gotten older, I've had kids, so I see it more from George's point of view, and I understand George a bit better. One of my favorite songs in the show is this new song that they put in called “Put Your Mind to It,” which is in the second act. It’s between Marty and George. You would think that I would say the Doc stuff, but it's really the Marty and George stuff that I love about the show. The way that Marty sees his dad in the new way resonates with me, and I expect it resonates with lots of people, because as you get older, you appreciate your parents more, I think, in what they did and how they did it, which is something you can't see when you're younger. So, I think that's what gives the show and the movie its pulse and the reason that people keep coming back to it all these years. Plus, there's a DeLorean.  

BWW: Love it! 

DS: Listen, when you come see this show, which I hope you will, you are not gonna believe what these people have devised on stage. The car is on the stage driving around 88 mph! 

BWW: Oh my goodness! 

DS: And, I'm telling you - you cannot believe it. It is so amazing and so fantastic and mind blowing. I see it all the time and I do it every night, and it still blows my mind. They're geniuses in what they did, and you will not be disappointed. You will for sure get your money's worth.  

BWW: That is so exciting! OK, so my problem with the DeLorean, I don't have a problem with it, but I was just thinking that if I went to Walmart, how would I open up my doors when everybody parks right on top of me?  

DS: Ah ha! See, that's tricky, because you can't just bend in them like you would your side mirror, you know, and I tell you those doors are weird. I think they call them gull doors, like for a seagull, I guess, because you know, they open up like that, and when you get out, you can hit your head on it. I've done it a million times, especially early on, because I’m not used to a door being above me. So, you hop out, you know, you're like – ah haa...here I am, and then boom! you hit your head right on the door. I've done it. My daughter got in the DeLorean one time, and I was like, ‘watch your..... ohh!’ and then she cracked her head when she got out. Everybody does it, and it just takes practice. So if you do ever find yourself in a DeLorean, be careful getting out, because you can bonk your head with ease.  

BWW: Hahahahaha 

DS: But really, people flip out when they see the car on stage, and when people come and see it, if you're older, you're suddenly like 12 years old again. When you see the DeLorean, it's like seeing the Millennium Falcon or any of the other iconic vehicles. I've seen grown men practically brought to tears when they slide into the seat. It's really, really great. I tell you, people come, and you see these dads that are dressed as Doc, and they've got their 10 year old son with them, and the kid is dressed as Marty or you see women dressed as Doc, and it's hard to be jaded when you see that. It sort of melts your cold, cold heart. When I see these kids afterwards, I say, ‘ohh, are you a Back to the Future fan? Do you like the movie?’ And often they will say, and it always blows my mind, that they have never seen the movie, that this was the first time they’ve seen it.  

BWW: Hmmmmmm 

DS: So it's a little sobering, because I have the responsibility to tell them this story for the first time. They're seeing this (the musical) for the first time, not the movie, and I’m like, ‘you gotta go see the movie.’  

BWW: You gotta see the movie. 

DS: It's a really good movie, but it's shocking to me the amount of people that are seeing Back to the Future for the first time in the theater with us live on stage.  Theater is its own animal. It is unique in the fact that it's a communal experience. You're sitting by somebody and you're seeing it and reacting with other people to live actors who are on the stage. It can't be replicated. That's what makes the theater so unique and so great is that this experience that you're having with others is different than sitting on your couch at home watching Back to the Future or anything on your TV, or even seeing it in the movie theater because, yeah, you're seeing it with people in the audience, but you're not seeing it with live actors. I sort of thought it was close to being musical anyway, because you got Johnny Be Good. 

BWW: Right 

DS: You've got the Huey Lewis songs, you've got Alan Silvestri's amazing score, which is stirring and emotional. But, you know, in a musical, people sing when the emotions or the situation is so heightened that that's the only thing they can do. They can only sing or they can only dance, but in Back to the Future, almost every scene is an emergency. Every scene is a crisis. Every scene is.... Oh my God, what are we gonna do?  

BWW: Right 

DS:  When we were in rehearal, Bob was with us every day. I finally ‘Bob, practically every one of my lines has an exclamation point at the end of it.’ I’m hemmed in about how I can do it,  because everything is like....Oh my God, what will we do? How will we do it?  

BWW: Great Scott! 

DS: Great Scott! We're in a mess...how are we going to get out? 

BWW: Right  

DS:  So it's all these questions that have to be answered. So the songs, I think, lend themselves easily to go into the show, because it's all heightened anyway, because it's all an emergency. Almost the whole story is an emergency that you got to get out of.  

BWW: So do they have the music that is in the movie as well as.... 

DS: yeah 

BWW: cool 

DS: I think there's 17 or 18 new songs, plus all of the music and the songs from the movie. So you get the Huey Lewis song, you get Power of Love, and you get Johnny Be Good and the other one, but yeah, they're all in there. And, of course, the audience loves that when they come up, but the other ones are fun too, and appropriate. The one thing I think that the musical can do that the movie can't do is when you have a song, you can give it more of a back story about the character and learn a little bit more about them. You learn a little bit more about Doc and his struggles with trying to do things and failure, and you don’t really get to spend a lot of time doing that in the movie. It's just moving, leapfrogging from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing. However, in the musical, it can sort of fill in some of that information that is hinted at but not really explored as much. 

BWW: Right. I love it!  

DS: The other thing is people who don't normally go see theater and certainly don't go and see musicals are coming to see Back to the Future. So, hopefully it's expanding the audience space. If they come see Back to the Future, maybe the next time they'll come and see Hamilton or Wicked or Next to Normal or some other shows. I hope that that's the case.   

BWW: Yeah. This is going to be so much fun.  

DS: You won't believe what you're seeing. It really will blow your mind. It's really great fun. And you know, when somebody comes and they say, ‘do you want to play Doc Brown? You say yes.’ 

BWW: You say yes, of course you do.  

DS: So if anybody comes to you and they say do you want to play Doc Brown, Theresa, you say yes. That's my advice.  

BWW: Yeah, that's good advice. So, I was looking at your resume. It's pretty extensive.  

DS: Well, thanks. Yeah. I've gotten to do a lot of fun stuff, a lot of challenging stuff. And I mean, some of the shows have really turned out to be, ohh, I don't know, classics. I was in the original Parade, I was in Titanic, obviously The Producers. You know, at the time, no one knew that those were going to turn out to be big shows that people really remembered fondly, but that's sort of what's happened. So, yeah, that's been a kick for me and a surprise, and I'm proud of that, I guess, after all this time. 

BWW: ... and you should be proud. That is very amazing. How did you end up doing all this? I mean, just out of college. I'm going to go be an actor?  

DS: I went to the University of Tennessee. I'm from Chattanooga.  

BWW: I love Chattanooga. I like Lookout Mountain.  

DS: Yep. I grew up there, and I went to the University of Tennessee and I studied theater there. I got my equity card there, because they had a professional company in residence – Clarence Brown Theatre -- and so you could understudy the professional actors and get your Equity card if you worked hard and really wanted to do that. So, I did that and then I moved to New York and started auditioning. I got lucky a few times and had a few breaks here and there and the shows turned out to be hits and ran for a while. Work begets work, I guess, and one thing led to another, and I started my directing career. Then, I had a family, and here I am all these years later still doing it, but now I'm playing Doc Brown, whereas I used to play Marty...and I’m like ‘wait a minute, what happened? How did I become Doc?’ Somebody joked and said ‘you could play Marty, Don,’ and I said, ‘don't think that I couldn't.’ I’m still Marty on the inside.  

BWW: Look, it's a blessing if you can go from Marty to Doc.  

DS: It is, you know, I've done this my entire life, and it's still fun to me. I guess when it isn't, you should hang it up, but there is still a little bit of that magic to tell great stories and to figure out why characters do certain things. It is still fun for me. It's almost like being a detective. I enjoy trying to figure out how to do it. I always have liked trying to figure out why someone does things a certain way. I still get a kick out of that.  

BWW: That's so great. Ok, so, a lot of you guys that I have been interviewing say things like- this is my first tour and I'm so excited. This is not your first tour.  

DS: Hahahaha...No, but I've only done one other tour before this because I've really gotten to work a lot in the regional theaters and a lot of New York. I did The Producers first national tour. I originated the part of Leo in that, and then I left that tour and went and did it in New York. That was, I don't know, 20 years ago, and this is my first tour since then...this is only my second tour that I've ever done. A bunch of these kids are just out of college and this is their first job, their first union job, and it's their first tour, but, yeah, I’ve only done this one other time.  

BWW: OK, so how are you liking the tour life?  

DS: You know, it's interesting. I try to find the touristy things in each city that you need to see. This tour gives you the opportunity to do those things that you wouldn't normally do.  When would I get to go to Little Rock and spend a week, unless I have work there or have a friend there or family there? You wouldn't normally go unless you were going to see a specific touristy thing you plan, but this gives me the excuse. I'm a big history buff, and so I go and see whatever local history thing is interesting to me. We’re in San Francisco now, so I'm going around looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and go to Alcatraz and whatever the city has to offer, but I can’t wear myself out to the point where I can't do the show.  

BWW: hahaha....right.  

DS: You can't run around all day and then go play Doc Brown. You gotta rest. It’s a demanding part. It's demanding physically and vocally...very....taxing.  

BWW: I bet. So, do you run around as Doc Brown? Because that would be fun.  

DS: There have been a few times where we've gone out in the street and done little things. It's fun for people to see Doc out there in the outfit. I got the wig on, and we've had the DeLorean sometimes out on the streets. People flip out, like I told you, like they become kids again. You see adults stop when they see us, get out of the car and just like, wow. I get it. It’s fun to be a part of that.  

BWW: That is so awesome. You're living a cool life.  

DS: Yeah. I get to see things and do things that I wouldn't normally do, and it's been fun to hang out with Bob Gale. He's a real movie guy. He's written a lot of movies that I love, and he's got a lot of history out there doing all sorts of movies. I love to sit around with Bob and talk about movies and hear Steve McQueen stories. It’s Heaven, Heaven, just absolute heaven. Talking about Steven Spielberg, you know... their friends... it’s so fun for me. I've enjoyed getting to know him and talking to him about all the movie stuff.  

BWW: How long have you been on this tour?  

DS: We started in June.  

BWW: Ohh, wow 

DS: Yeah, I'm starting to get the hang of it.  

BWW: hahahaha....funny. So what’s after this?  

DS: Oh, I have four kids who demand my attention, and I have a directing career and obviously an acting career. So, there are some irons in the fire, so we’ll see what happens. 

BWW: What do you prefer to do the most? Directing or acting on stage or act in movies? What's your favorite?  

DS: People ask me that often, and I always say ‘whichever one I'm doing, I wish I was doing the opposite.’ So just like everybody else, I'm like a malcontent. If I'm acting, I wish I was directing. If I'm directing, I wish I was acting. I don't know what that means. It's just like, when it's cold, you wish it was warmer, and when it’s warm, you wish it were cooler. I guess that’s human nature, right? I always want what I don't have. So I probably need some kind of deep cleansing therapy about that.  

BWW: hahahaha 

DS: Like when you're the director, it's all your responsibility, and you sort of play all the parts, you know, because it's your show. It's like a cake that you have to bake. You have to get it ready because people are going to eat it on this certain day, right? That's opening, but when you're the actor, it's much more myopic. It's just me and my part and my costume and my shoes and my glove, so it's much more narrow, but, both are really, really interesting. They're similar but different. So, when I'm the actor being told what to do, I start to start thinking that I wanna tell everybody what to do. But then when I'm in the position of telling everybody what to do, I'm like, ‘ohh, I just wish someone would tell me what to do.’ So, I don't know. I really do like both, and my whole career, I've pivoted from one to the other, to the one back and forth, back and forth. I like both, and they're both fulfilling in different ways.  

BWW: What has been your favorite that you've directed?  

DS: I love directing Lend Me a Tenor, which I've done a few times. Ken Ludwig's play Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy, but it has a heart underneath all the comedy-- like Back to the Future does. It's really, really fun to have a great group of actors, which I had. As a director, I like to see if I can manipulate the audience into laughing their heads off. That's really, really fulfilling for me. When you have wonderful actors and wonderful scripts and a great theater that gives you the facilities to do it all, then it's just a matter of cooking it up and then work maybe a little more of this, maybe a little bit more of that. It's just funnier if you do this and have people that understand what you're saying and can do it with you. It's great fun. So I've done that show a couple of times, three times maybe, and then I ended up doing the sequel A Comedy of Tenors wtth the same group of actors. That was really, really fulfilling because we all knew each other so well and had done the first one. I like to see if I can get the audience to react the way I want them to because really that’s what directing is, right? Like if you're Steven Spielberg with Jaws, you wanna scare the audience when the shark does this, or you don't see the shark and that's scary. As a director it’s your decisions trying to manipulate the audience to feel a certain way.  

BWW: Mm-hmm.  

DS: And if you do it correctly, they do. So I like trying to figure out how they're gonna react and, and I like being able to manipulate them to react a certain way with all the actors and the lighting and the set and the moments and the music or whatever. The thing is, I like to see if I can get what I want.  

BWW: Interesting 

DS: Does that make sense? 

BWW: Yes, it makes a lot of sense. I love it. I have not seen either one of those shows yet. So out of all this stuff that you've done, is there a character you would still like to do?  

DS: You mean the certain part that I would like to play?  

BWW: Yes.  

DS: I've gotten to play like a lot of the great parts and I've really, really enjoyed that. So there's not one that I walk around going ‘ohh, if only I could do that, it would be fulfilling.’ But I did always think that I could play Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I thought I understood that character, but I don't know if anyone would ever cast me as that, because he's supposed to be like a big sort of strapping football player that's sort of on the decline. I don't know that I look like that, but I understand the part. I always felt like I had an affinity for it. I have directed it, so that's probably the closest I'll get to actually doing it because, when you direct a show, you sort of are playing all the parts in a way. 

BWW: Sure.  

DS: So I've gotten to do that, but that's one that I've always wished I could have done just because I thought I had a good take on it. But, I don't sit around-- I got to play Hamlet when I was younger and those other ones that we've mentioned. I feel like I've gotten to play a lot of really good ones. Of course, there are a lot of them I haven't gotten to play as well. That's the downside of working in show business. There's lots of parts you don't get that you wanted to do, but I've gotta do a lot of good ones, and then there's a bunch that I didn't get to do. That's just the way it is. But I've enjoyed the discovery of the ones that I've gotten to do, and certainly playing Doc has been an unexpected thrill. I love him. I love his innocence. I love the way that he is still sort of childlike and amazed at everything. He's older, but he's held on to that childlike wonder, and I think if you do that, you always sort of stay young.  

BWW: Yeah, I like that. Well, it has been a delight talking with you. I cannot wait to come see you and the rest of the cast, and I am super, super excited.  

DS: I hope you enjoy it. I think you will. I think it'll blow your mind.  

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